You asked who was reading your books, well here I am an Electronic Engineer designing radios for air-traffic control. Small department of approx 20 people so have to put my hand to all sorts of designs, audio, PSU, RF etc.
I have been reading SF since finding my older brothers collection of Asimov and Heinlein, though I was put off Heinlein after reading Stranger in a strange land, too hippy.
I love reading most proper SF, you, Reynolds, Hamilton, Vogt, Smith, Egan etc etc. Best thing with SF though is getting Interzone every other month. My other hobbies include cycle racing, bird watching and walking.
Can find photos of me at www.PhilAckerman.co.uk and I have attached photos of part of my collection.
Phil Ackerman.
10 comments:
is your older brother FORRY ACKERMAN??
Damn, Vaud beat me to the punch!
Nice collection of books there, Phil.
if not he could do a follow up to the cut out bin super sound hit of Forest J lp with a "Music for Femto, Nano, and Multi-quantum Computing Robots"
the original available via download:
http://36-15-moog.blogspot.com/2008/04/forrest-j-ackerman-frank-coe-music-for.html
What are those brown bits around the bottom on my books, Alastair Reynold's books and a few others?
You might enjoy Richard Morgan. Start with Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs novels):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Morgan_%28author%29
There is nothing hippy about them. Here is a quote from a story inside the story of the third novel, told by a street performer:
And as the screaming died away in the distance, there was a silence broken only by the moaning of the seawind along the wharf, and the whimpering of the comely whore at Quell’s feet. And Quell turned herself to the second priest and pointed the heavy-calibre revolver at him. “Now you”, she said. “Will you tell me that you have never been with a whore?” And the priest drew himself up and looked her back in the eye and he said, “I am a priest and I have been with no women in my life for I would not soil the sacredness of my flesh.” And Quell looked back at this black clad man and as she stared into his hot jet eyes she knew that he spoke the truth, that he was a man of his word. So she looked at the revolver in her hand and then back at the man. And she said, “Then you are a fanatic and cannot learn.” And she shot him in the face.
The torture scences in the Takeshi novels are some of the most detailed. As virtual reality allows them to load you into the body of pregnant women, being raped and having soldering-iron slided up your vagina. And if you die due to hours of torture, just restart the simulation. Just one of the scenes from the first book.
Another book that is not hippy at all would be Iain M. Banks The Algebraist. One of the resistance fighters has his head cut, being put onto a life support system, his eyes and mouth being stitched.
Neal, I think those brown bits are reflections off the shelf. It only seems to how on the black shiny spines and not others.
who the fuk said Morgan was hippy? cut the stacks out!
Nobody, I was just suggesting Morgan to him since he said Heinlein was too hippy. Morgan was the best I could think of in SF if you don't like hippy. Except Asher of course, but he probably knew about him ;-)
"What are those brown bits around the bottom on my books, Alastair Reynold's books and a few others?"
I cover all my books with removable covers by BRODART and you can see the reflection from the shelf in this. Keeps your books in perfect condition.
"You might enjoy Richard Morgan. Start with Altered Carbon."
I have my eye on this book to read very soon. Good review by SFBRP.com podcast of this book.
I wish Forest was by older brother, I would love to get my hands on his book collection :-)
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